The author believes the machinery of accreditation has outlived its usefulness. This paper examines the effects of present accrediting activities and the work of regional associations and professional societies on part-time and continuing education. Part-time and continuing education has long been discouraged by the prestigious universities, though the notion of full-time faculty, full-time students, and the community of scholars has in actuality become a myth. Yet these myths are being perpetuated by accrediting teams who have encouraged practices directed against continuing education. Accrediting groups have pressed for greater emphasis on standardized tests for admission, increased efforts at recruitment, broader geographic representation and more financial aid, all aimed at admission and retention of the full-time student. The Commissioner of Education in New York State has proposed the "external degree" which, if accepted, would provide much of the flexibility needed to respond to today's problems and to the demands that our society is making on higher education. Voluntary agencies do not have the authority, nor can they respond quickly enough to the crises faced by higher education, and there is great need for regulation of the educational enterprise by a new administrative agency of the federal government. (AF)